This week on The Tie-In, Zena sits down with Kent Hayward, a filmmaker, author of Green Filmmaking (Routledge, 2025), professor of production at California State University Long Beach, and co-founder and Vice-Chair of the Green Film School Alliance (GFSA).

Kent traces his path from visual effects work on models, miniatures, and composites to teaching production. Seeing how much material big shows sent to the dumpster after wrap started him thinking about what his film students could do with it. That idea became an extra-credit assignment, then a conference talk, then a book.

He explains how he frames sustainability for student filmmakers as good producing: using time and resources efficiently, being scrappy, and problem solving. He also shares how he brings climate storytelling into the writers’ room through small, everyday moments on screen, and how film history, from the Lumière brothers to Godzilla to Flow, reflects our changing relationship with nature.

We also get into the top practices his students use on set, from reusables and thrifting to carpooling and meatless meals, plus PEACHy 2.0 and the Green Seals GFSA students are earning. Kent shares how he’s learning battery power for student productions, what’s next for GFSA’s sustainability career pipeline, and his students’ plan for a bicycle-powered screening.

Perfect for film students, film educators, independent filmmakers, producers, and anyone curious how the next generation is learning sustainable production from day one.

Topics: green filmmaking, sustainable film production, film school curriculum, climate storytelling, Green Film School Alliance, PEACHy checklist, EMA Green Seal, battery power film sets, independent filmmaking, student filmmakers, film education, CSULB.

🌱 Connect With Our Guest:

Green Film School Alliance: https://www.greenfilmschoolalliance.com

Kent Hayward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kent-hayward-b599441/

Kent Hayward on Instagram: @lekent_hayward

Green Film School Alliance on Instagram: @greenfilmschoolalliance

Kent Hayward on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1712857/

🎙️ Connect with our hosts:

Zena Harris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zenaharris/

Mark Rabin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabinmark/